Many modern currency processing machines have the ability to receive bulk coins and/or bank notes from a user of the machine. The currency processing machine may be a redemption-type machine wherein, after the deposited coins and/or bank notes are counted, funds are returned to the user in a pre-selected manner, such as a payment ticket or voucher, a smartcard, a cash card, a gift card, and the like. Alternatively, the machine may be a deposit-type machine where funds which have been deposited by the user are credited to a personal account. Some currency processing machines are used in the financial, retail and gaming industries to sort, count, and package large volumes of currency for recirculation, transfer and/or distribution of the currency. Hybrid variations of these machines are also known and available.
In some currency processing machines, bulk coins may be deposited by users which are then sorted into individual denominations and subsequently fed into dedicated receptacles, each of which corresponds to a respective denomination of coin. When these receptacles have reached their storage capacity, an operator of the currency processing machine physically removes the full receptacle, and then replaces it with an empty receptacle so that the machine can be returned to its operational state. A disadvantage associated with these prior art currency processing machines is the time and labor required for an operator to unload the processed coins from the machine and subsequently return the machine to an operational state. Another associated disadvantage is that many of these prior art currency processing machines are unable to transact with a user while the operator is unloading the processed coins from the currency processing machine.
Various coin redemption machines are made accessible in banking environments and retail stores for public use. Because these coin redemption machines are placed in an area accessible by the general public, it is oftentimes necessary to take security precautions to deter theft and tampering. For example, the coin-containing receptacles (e.g., coin bags) of the redemption machine are typically stowed inside a secure housing. However, placing the coin receptacles within a secured housing can make it difficult and time consuming for an operator to access all of the coin receptacles. For example, due to packaging constraints, some coin bags need to be stowed inside the housing behind other coin bags—accessing the rearwardly disposed coin bags oftentimes takes additional time and effort. Thus, there exists a need for improved coin processing and management systems designed to mitigate the above-described problems.